


Love at First Lie

by VanillaDaydreams



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Aomine Daiki Being an Idiot, Established Iwaoi, M/M, Mild Sexual Content, Smitten Aomine Daiki, Unresolved Sexual Tension, for all our whipped Aomine needs, iwaoi on the side, kise and oikawa are roomates, knb and haikyuu crossover, main pair is aoki, oikawa is queen, whipped Aomine Daiki
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-12
Updated: 2020-05-25
Packaged: 2020-08-19 16:54:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 17,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20213122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VanillaDaydreams/pseuds/VanillaDaydreams
Summary: It was a spur-of-the-moment decision, one that didn't involve a lot of thinking on his part. And as soon as the lie tumbled out of his lips, Aomine came to regret every single word. But this guy who called himself Kise Ryouta had been all smiles and encouraging words since the moment they met, like a ray of sunshine filtering through the clouds and it had been too late when Aomine realized that he could no longer escape the blond's charms, all he wanted was to stare into those bright, honey-colored eyes for a while and dream of kissing those alluring lips someday.-Or in which Aomine Daiki, basketball prodigy, pretends to be a newb at the sport he's so ridiculously good in just to get close to a pretty blond he meets at the street court one afternoon.





	1. You're so pretty, you make a liar out of me

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, I'm still alive. I've started this long ago but decided to let it sit in my drive for a while as new plot bunnies came haunting me in my sleep. A year later, this story guilt-tripped me to completion because I'm still very much into Aoki and unfinished writings chew upon my writer's conscience, no joke.  
But fandom, are you still breathing? Anyway, even if nobody reads AoKise anymore, I'm still putting it here :D

_ Tell me you love me, if you don’t then lie, lie to me. _

_ -Coldplay (True Love) _

* * *

Love at first sight. Aomine Daiki has always scoffed at the idea.

Until it happens to him, destiny deciding to play a little trick and grabbing him by the balls.

* * *

The first time he saw the blond practicing alone at the street court the attraction was so strong, heavy chains coiling around his senses, reigning and drawing him tight into something radiant, the moon pulling the tides of his heart.

Aomine observes in awe, as the blond runs and moves around the deserted basketball court, a flurry of smooth, calculated movements against unseen opponents. Aomine can’t take his eyes away while the blond strides and covers a good distance of the court rather too easily. There's even something about the way he dribbles, Aomine notices, a rhythmic beat of the ball as it slips back and forth between slender arms and bony hands, with increasing, decreasing tempo as it slams on the concrete ground.

Immobile on his spot, Aomine doesn’t realize it when his lips curved up into a smile, his brain meshing the concepts of ‘beautiful’ and ‘talented’ together which eventually evolves into a strong sense of admiration for this stranger. Unknowingly, the blond has already earned the respect of his audience.

“What a worthy opponent,” Aomine tells himself, still taking it all in.

The blond skids to a halt then jumps with raised hands locked on the ball, his lean frame angled backwards as he executes a flawless fade-away jumper. And Aomine sees him backlit by the afternoon sun in a slow motion of sorts, his athletic body defying gravity for a few seconds, blond hair catching the wind, an imagery so enthralling in Aomine’s vision. The ball is released with an almost imperceptible flick of the wrist and as Aomine had expected, it sailed into a seamless trajectory before going inside the basket. The blond lands lightly on his heels, a perfected righting reflex like that of a cat. 

“Like what you see?” 

Too engrossed by the sight before him, it doesn’t immediately register to Aomine that the blond just initiated the small talk; even more so, he’s surprised that the blond is actually aware that he’s been standing there all along, at the far side of the court. The voice has a self-confident ring to it, Aomine is sure; it’s a subtle call for a challenge, which accomplishes nothing other than increase the attraction he feels for the boy before him.

The blond jogs closer to where Aomine is and stops just a few feet short in front of him, allowing Aomine to get a good look at his face. Aomine doesn’t say anything yet, he just observes as the other teen rakes his fingers through his golden bangs and uses the back of his other hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead. More than what he cares to admit, Aomine is taken aback by how handsome the blond’s face is, up close: piercing amber eyes, straight nose and chiseled jaws all working together to charm their owner just a little bit more into Aomine’s heart. The lone earring resting on the blond’s left ear catches Aomine’s gaze and he finds it quite appealing as it captures the light of the sun, a tiny glimmer on the side of the blond’s face, making him appear more radiant, somehow.

“You’re good,” Aomine finally says, because despite everything he saw and all the details he picked up, those were the only words that his tongue had managed to slip out.

“Thanks,” the blond replies with a lovely smile. For a moment, Aomine’s mental processes shut down; he feels like it’s a crime not to smile back.

The blond starts dribbling, but his eyes are intense on Aomine, like he’s gauging him, too. “You’re new here?”

“Yeah, moved in just three days ago. I’m Aomine Daiki from Nihon U.”

“Ah. Freshman?”

He’s slightly disappointed when the blond doesn’t give his name yet, though Aomine assumes that they're pretty much of the same age. Aomine replies with a small nod.

“You play?”

“Just a bit.” Aomine says in his most modest tone, hoping that the blond isn’t too tired or too snobby to decline a one-on-one with a stranger, hoping as well to make an outstanding first impression. Aomine feels impatience flaring in his veins. _ But name, name! _ He chants in his mind.

“Cool! One-on-one?” The blond beams and tosses him the ball.

“Not gonna say no.” Aomine easily catches the ball with one hand, grinning back at the blond. “But name first.”

“Oh, it’s Kise Ryouta. I’m a freshman, too, from Meiji U. Race to ten?”

“Sure.” Aomine smirks, feeling victorious already as he dribbles and goes on into an offensive stance, a rush of excitement blooming in his chest. Kise’s face slips into seriousness as well, spreading his long arms and bending his knees as he marks Aomine. He tries to outrun his opponent but Kise, he realizes, is no ordinary basketball player. This guy really has some talent into him, a craft obviously honed through seasons of playing and sheer love for the game. It surely takes one to know one.

_ And even his game face is really sexy _. Aomine also notes, feeling his heart skip a beat. He berates himself a split second later for not focusing well on the task at hand.

Not only is Kise quick on his feet, he’s also quick to pick up small movements and body language, the little cracks within his opponent’s defense, and once he catches the distraction manifesting itself in Aomine’s features, he wasted no time and reached sharply for the ball with his left hand.

The steal is a success, and it triggers out a curse under Aomine’s breath. Before he knows it, Kise has already taken first point.

“Alright!” Kise pumps a fist in the air. Aomine picks up the ball, too stunned to say anything, too fascinated by the sight of Kise basking in his victory that his resolve to make an outstanding first impression on Kise becomes a looming pressure on top of his mind. _ Oh well, blondie can take the first point but that’s all he’s taking. _

(Aside from his heart, maybe).

Eyeing past his opponent, Aomine makes a drive for the basket but Kise is already on his right side a second later. Aomine switches into a defensive, dribbling cautiously, while at the same time planning the best way to outsmart his opponent. Kise lunges, attempts to steal the ball once again, but Aomine sees it, and is able to immediately evade the attack by switching the ball to his other hand. 

Assured and self-satisfied smiles were traded between the two.

Kise proceeds to guard Aomine close, his lean arms closing around Aomine, leaving the latter with very little space to move. Aomine responds by half-turning, his back just a hair’s breadth against Kise’s chest. He can actually smell Kise now, sweat intermingling with a hint of something like a woodsy cologne. When Aomine looks over his shoulder, he takes notice of the dark flecks in Kise’s golden eyes, nestled under impossibly long eye lashes and he’s distracted once again, causing him to fumble with the ball. The blond reaches in for Aomine’s hand and it would’ve been successful if not for Aomine’s reflex reacting just a little bit faster, a very close call, which makes up for the lapses of his addled mind.

Frustrated with his rather abysmal performance, Aomine runs to the far side of the court, away from Kise, a laughable attempt to at least regain his composure. 

_ Get your fucking head in the game! _Aomine hollers in his mind, beating his inner self into a pulp. Kise must have sensed the awkwardness in his rhythm, too, because he doesn’t run after Aomine like what he’s doing earlier.

“Relax, Aomine!” Kise tells him, but his tone is far from condescending, more on the cheerful side, and he complements the words with an encouraging smile, all too warm and friendly, somehow reducing Aomine’s knees into a jelly puddle.

_ Focus, shithead. _What the hell is this guy doing to him?

Taking a deep breath, Aomine tries to get closer to the basket, Kise meeting him just in time before he gets too close to the goal. Once again, the blond hovers close, a predator biding his time. Aomine stares at the other guy down, deliberately shifting his weight to his left foot in an attempt for a fake. When Kise takes the bait, he turns to the opposite direction and manages to get past Kise’s guard. Aomine smirks. 

_ This is it. _

A slam dunk, Aomine decides. Nice and clean. Nothing else will make him look cool in Kise’s eyes.

But Kise is not letting him go that easily and with lightning-fast speed, he was all over Aomine’s shooting space, crowding, constricting, making it challenging for the blue-haired teen to get into a better position and a solid aim at the basket.

Yet the greater the pressure, the better Aomine Daiki performs. Pulling his weight, Aomine jumps through his left leg, ball in his right hand. Kise jumps too, their bodies colliding in mid-air. With their faces too close, Aomine’s gaze has wandered off elsewhere again, this time into Kise’s pinkish, half-parted lips, and his breath catches on his throat.

_ Oh shit. _

Having lost the momentum for the dunk, Aomine’s right hand wavers. He can still get this, he believes, but with a measly lay-up. As he falls to the ground trying to decide a lot of things in a short span of time, he releases the ball from an odd angle, some milliseconds too late. 

With his sense of balance interrupted, Aomine falls on his butt. The ball, unfortunately, had barely touched the rim of the basket. For the first time in his life, Aomine Daiki missed a lay-up, something so fucking basic, he cannot believe it himself.

“Are you alright?” Kise stretches a hand and tries to pull a slack-jawed Aomine from the ground.

Grabbing on Kise’s hand, Aomine feels electricity course through his arm down to the soles of his feet at the contact. He lets out a breath he doesn’t know he’s been holding for a moment too long.

“Aomine?” Kise repeats, worry crossing his face. 

“I missed…” Aomine blinks, head hung low as he glances at his right palm, too dumbstruck by his silly mistake to make coherent thoughts.

“It’s okay,” Kise says. “You’re aiming for a dunk but you hesitated at the last minute. You kind of… how do I put it, stopping yourself a lot earlier… no offense, but you seem nervous with your ball-handling. But that’s totally fine, I can see you’ve got lots of potential. With more practice and experience, you’ll get better.” 

Aomine reels all the more, realizing now that Kise thinks he’s an amateur. So much for making a good first impression. Aomine doesn’t really know what to say to that.

“I only started playing on my second year in middle school. My teammates were on the advanced levels already but a friend encouraged me to practice all the time and I did, so eventually, my hard work paid off,” Kise says as he walks to pick up the ball. A little later, he hands it to Aomine. “Here, would you like to try again?”

Aomine decides he’ll just pass up the chance since he knows he’ll get distracted again, anyway, and will just end up making a complete fool of himself. However, looking at Kise being all warm and encouraging and sincere, he just had this sudden idea…

“Uh, do you really think…” Aomine pauses, his eyes darting sideways before focusing on Kise once more. “…that I can get better at this?” 

“Of course! Didn’t you hear me say that you have the potential?” Kise chimes happily. “You’re fast, you have very good build and you jump high.” 

“You forgot to mention that I couldn’t even make a decent lay-up.”

And Aomine tries to keep his surprise at bay, his internal self wincing when Kise replies, “Oh, you’ll get better in time. Here, let me show you.”

Kise turns his gaze to the basket, makes a dribble, runs and executes a simple lay-up shot. He tosses the ball to Aomine again. Thinking he might as well play along, Aomine jumps but has let the ball linger in his palm a little longer, an intentional attempt at a bad lay-up.

“Okay, I knew exactly what you did wrong there,” Kise calls out.

For a moment, a red flag went up inside Aomine’s head. Did the missed lay-up look so fake?

The blond goes behind Aomine and asked for the latter to raise his right arm. To Aomine’s surprise, one of Kise’s hands has pulled on his left hip, making Aomine blush instantaneously, it’s a good thing Kise was standing behind him. The blond’s other hand taps on Aomine’s right shoulder, giving it a gentle forward shove.

“There. Jump in that position and don’t hold on to the ball too long.”

Aomine nods and obeys. This time, he made sure that the ball goes in.

“See that?” Kise flashes one of those bright smiles again, shoots a finger gun at Aomine. “Quite the fast learner, aren’t we?”

“R-right.” Aomine returns Kise’s smile with an awkward version of his own while he brings one of his hands to lightly scratch the back of his head. Well, whatever. At least, this isn’t turning out so bad. Being determined and teachable makes a good first impression, too, and might just be the best path to tread for him to charm this guy as well. 

Aomine pushes the guilt deep until it drowns completely into the pool of white lies at the back of his mind. _ It’s no big deal actually_, he tries to convince himself. “What position do you play on your team, Kise?”

“Small forward. You?”

“Bench warmer. Can you also teach me how to shoot from the free throw line? I sucked at free throws, too.”

* * *

After the basketball tutorials, Aomine offers to treat Kise to a meal as ‘my thank you, of course’. Profusely embarrassed, Kise tells him he doesn’t need to pay up for the lessons, adds that he’ll gladly do it again, but Aomine insists, with the ulterior motive of spending more time with the blond. Two hours later, both are still seated comfortably in the neighborhood café, discussing this and that and whatever comes in between. 

Aomine is really starting to like Kise a lot and he can’t recall being so interested in a guy before. He learns that Kise has two older sisters, wants to become a pilot someday and is currently completing a degree in aeronautical engineering. Without batting an eye lash, Kise tells Aomine that his most favorite food is onion gratin soup and that his mother makes the best in the world. He even invites Aomine to try it sometime. Kise also loves shopping and karaoke singing and is a big fan of alternative rock music. While they trade stories, Aomine can’t help but admire how laid back, easy-going and witty his companion is. For Aomine, it’s as if he’ll never get tired staring into that pretty face and hearing stories told through that rich, baritone voice.

Kise is about to launch into a discussion why Kevin Durant is the best small forward in the NBA when two girls who appeared to be high school students approached their table.

“Kise-kun,” one of the girls says while struggling to maintain eye contact with the blond. “Can we have a picture with you?”

“Sure!” Kise responds right away, to Aomine’s astonishment. He stands in between the girls and puts his arms on either of their shoulders. “Aomine, do you mind if you take our picture?”

“Uh, not at all.” Not sure what exactly is happening, Aomine takes the girl’s smartphone and snaps a picture of them.

“Thank you so much, Kise-kun! You are so nice!” One of the girls says to Kise, red in the face like an overly-ripe tomato.

“No biggie. Tag my page if you’re gonna upload, ‘kay?” Kise smiles at them with a wave of his hand. After the girls left, he returns to his seat.

Aomine looks at Kise with quizzical eyes. “So what was that? You a celebrity or something?”

Kise bursts out laughing. “Oh my god, Aomine, we’ve been together for like four hours already and you didn’t even realize who you’re with?”

“Ha?” Embarrassed, Aomine shakes his head. Sadly, his facial recognition skills are as frustrating as his basketball play earlier.

“I can’t believe this! And here I thought you’re hitting on me because you know who I am,” Kise tells him.

“Hitting on… wait, what?” Aomine fumbles and throws his head sideways, his face suddenly growing warm. 

“I’m hurt, Aomine doesn’t recognize me.” Kise continues, his lips slipping into a pout. When Aomine sneaks a sidelong glance, his heart did backflips in his chest. W_ill this guy ever stop being so cute? _

“Sorry. Just tell me already.” Aomine says gently.

“Okay, I forgive you. Not that I’m popular, anyway.” Kise’s facial expression easily shifts into neutral. He takes a sip of his almond berry smoothie before continuing, “I do a bit of modeling on the side.”

Holding Kise’s gaze, Aomine doesn’t say anything as he crosses his arms and leans back in his seat. This guy in front of him is just so full of wonderful surprises, like a well-thought of birthday gift. Now he gets why people kept staring at them—at Kise rather—as they make their way to the café. His hands itch to google Kise on his phone.

“What now, why aren’t you saying anything?” Kise asks.

“I’m shocked, my sensei is a celebrity.” An amused smile turns up at the corners of Aomine’s lips as he said this. He then fishes out his phone from his pocket. “Can I have a picture with you, too, Ikemen-kun?”

“Sure, but I won’t give you my number.”

“You already gave me your number.”

“Oh. My bad. Just don’t expect me to reply too soon. I’ve so many other fans.”

“But I’m not your fan. I’m your apprentice.”

“Touché, Aominecchi!”

“What?”

“Ah, don’t mind your sensei, I’ve my own way of calling people.” Kise gives him a telling smile, like he really wants to add an explanation to it but decides to keep everything a mystery for now.

It sounds silly, but he doesn’t care at all. Kise giving him a nickname feels like unlocking a new level in their friendship already and he takes it as a go signal to proceed further. The casual flirting captivates Aomine endlessly, and at that moment, a sensation akin to something blissful and terrifying that he can’t put a finger on settles upon him as he gets to dive into the void that was Kise Ryouta. 

* * *

“Do you believe in love at first sight?” Out of nowhere, Kise blurts the question to his roommate and volleyball setter extraordinaire, Oikawa Tooru. They were seated across each other in the living room, supposedly doing some nighttime reading for tomorrow’s classes, while The Blue Danube by Johann Strauss, Oikawa’s preference, plays in the background.

The brunet’s head snaps and turns to look up at his roommate. “Where exactly did that come from?”

“I just want to know your opinion on this, Oikawacchi,” Kise replies, as he sets the thick volume of Aviation Management face-down on his lap.

“Before I answer that, I suddenly remembered… can I borrow the olive pants you wore during Freshmen night? The one from Head Porter? I think it’ll go well with my new beige button-up.” Oikawa interjected.

“Sure. If you want it so much, you can have it.”

“What? Really?”

“You heard me! Just take it. Not exactly my color, it’ll look better on you.”

“Hell yeah, it’ll look great on me! Really, I don’t want to say this again but you’re the best roomie ever, Ki-chan!” Oikawa’s smile stretches wide across his pretty face.

“Nah, you’re the best. I’m quite lucky you have my back and all and we share the same tastes on almost everything. Well, except men, maybe,” Kise tells him. He’s met Oikawa during college admissions, while they were both running away from fangirls. Turns out, he and Oikawa are alike in more ways than one. Kise always believed that like poles repel but with Oikawa, the opposite happened. Having been able to relate to each other in so many ways, the connection between the two boys clicked instantly and the pair of them became really good friends. With some lucky twist of fate, they also ended up as roommates.

Oikawa closed his book and removed his glasses, having sensed that something substantially interesting than academics and clothes is up on Kise’s agenda at the moment. “Well, it’s different for Iwa-chan and me… he’s always been my wonderwall, you know? Been there for me ever since I can remember. It’s a shame it took me long to realize that I’ve been in love with him for a long time.” Oikawa says. “But to answer your question, yes, I think it’s possible. I know a handful of people who got into that.” 

With a wishful face, Kise says, “You’re very lucky to find love so early in your life, Oikawacchi. With you and Iwaizumicchi, a half and half is complete, you’re linked like yin and yang. Unlike me, I’ve dated several people in the past, but they’re only interested in me ‘coz I’m a model.”

“Dammit Ki-chan, you make it sound like beauty is a curse.” 

“Maybe it is?”

“Nonsense! Love will find you when you’re least looking for it.”

“Well, I met someone, like, three days ago and I can’t stop thinking about him. I wonder if it’s love.”

It never escaped Oikawa’s eyes that his roommate’s face had lit up at the mention of this ‘someone’. “This better be good, I’m letting precious review time slip away,” Oikawa says.

Kise lets out a giggle; Oikawa throws a pillow at him before concluding, “Shit. You’ve already fallen so hard for this guy you barely knew!” 

“Not yet! I’m just a little hopeful here, is that a bad thing? We’re still at the getting-to-know-you stage, Oikawacchi!” Thrumming with excitement, Kise’s voice rises to a higher pitch. “He’s tall, dark, blue-eyed handsome to begin with. But he sucks at basketball, so I volunteered to help him practice on weekends.”

“You’re crazy!” The brunet remarks, quite amused at how obviously smitten his roommate has become.

“I’m not! I can tell he loves basketball too, but he lacks experience. He’s funny and has this stubborn streak like he’s always up for a challenge… such a turn on!” Kise chatters animatedly. “And he doesn’t know who I am.”

“Who hasn’t heard of Kise Ryouta?” Oikawa asks, a little skeptical.

“Him! And probably has no idea who Oikawa Tooru is, too.”

“Why do I hate this guy already?”

“He’s from Kansai region and just moved in recently for uni. Apparently, I wasn’t that famous there.”

The boys have been interrupted by the buzz of Kise’s mobile phone. Kise fishes the phone from his pocket, reads the message with such eagerness that Oikawa guessed, must be from the blond’s current person-of-interest. And Oikawa can’t help but grimace when his roommate brought a hand to his mouth to suppress a laugh. Clucking his tongue, Oikawa comments, "ew, you’re a lost cause.”

The blond looks up, grinning from ear to ear. “Have you seen you reading Iwaizumicchi’s messages? I’ll video it next time.”

“Well, what I’m trying to say is don’t show him you’re too interested. Play a little hard-to-get, okay?” Oikawa reminds him.

Kise’s eyebrows shoot up at the suggestion. “Aye, Captain! You don’t even need to tell me!”

* * *

The basketball lessons have been going on nicely for a couple of weekends now, much to Aomine’s satisfaction, thankful also that he hasn’t been busted yet. 

On this particular Saturday morning, Kise chooses to show Aomine tips and tricks on how to make a two-handed dunk. The blond, eager to impart his knowledge, even borrowed his roommate’s volleyball because as per what he researched in WikiHow, it’s easier to practice dunking with a smaller ball first.

Aomine tries to conceal his smile as Kise demonstrates how to properly palm the ball and use inertia while his arms are extended. While Kise explains, Aomine looks at him directly in the eye and makes sure to nod off at some of his words, while dismissing the fact that he can work with a double-handed dunk with both eyes closed. Like a knife twisting in his conscience, this whole pretense guts Aomine a little and then so much at some point, but the white-hot fire that jolts him every time Kise makes contact with his skin-- or Kise’s warm gaze resting on him like he’s totally committed to make Aomine the best player in the world—shuts down all of Aomine’s better judgment, begging himself for a little more time and some more.

During the break, Aomine steals a glance at Kise while chugging down a bottle of Pocari, and wonders if he should say what he needed to say right now. Trusting his gut feeling, Aomine puts the drink bottle down and lets out an audible sigh, causing the blond beside him to whip his head reflexively sideways. 

“You alright, Aominecchi?”

He better do it now before their teams clash in the inter-collegiate preliminaries. Aomine grips the half-empty bottle with both hands. “Actually, Kise…”

“Kise!”

Aomine and Kise both turn to the direction of the voice.

Two guys—red and teal heads—are walking closer to them. The taller, brawnier guy, the one with the red hair, waves a hand.

“Kagamicchi! Kurokocchi!” Kise jumps up excitedly to meet them. “It's been a while! How are you two?”

“Great to see you again, Kise-kun.” The significantly shorter teal-head boy replies with a small smile. 

After exchanging pleasantries, Kise introduces Aomine to his friends. Aomine learns that they’re also freshmen from Hosei University and that the shorter guy, Kuroko Tetsuya, was actually Kise’s basketball teammate during middle school. Kise has met and become friends with the taller guy with weird eyebrows, Kagami Taiga, through Kuroko, who went and played in the same high school as Kagami.

So when Kagami, the big ball of energy that he is, proposes a two-on-two, Aomine is pumped up, he’ll get a good gauge of how players from opposing schools will be like, but Kise is quick to put in words of caution. 

“Hey, you two--” Kise refers to both Kuroko and Kagami, “don’t show off too much or you’ll scare off my protégé.” 

“Huh? What d’you mean?” Kagami asks after he and Kuroko exchanged quizzical looks.

Kise tells them that his companion is a basketball newb and all, and Aomine has to bite the inside of his cheeks so hard while he listens to Kise lying on his behalf.

Kagami eyes Aomine curiously and says, “Well, if Aomine isn’t scared off by your mad skills, guess you have nothing to worry about, Kise.”

The four of them decided that it would be Kagami and Kuroko versus Kise and his so-called protégé. The fire burning bright in Kagami’s garnet eyes stirs a challenge within Aomine and he truly wishes to be the one to take on Kagami but Kise insists that he should mark Kuroko instead. 

The game begins, Kagami in possession of the ball. In a few minutes, Aomine has made an interesting assessment of his opponents, a fervid desire to shed off this newb image he’s struggling to keep in place already burning at the back of his mind. Kise is already undeniably exceptional, but this weird-brows Kagami is fast, focused and strong, Aomine is certain that he’s no ordinary player as well. And then there’s this lanky, little Kuroko, who has this weird ability of losing his presence when he gets the ball and makes clean, solid passes to Kagami. 

“They’re the light and shadow duo, formidable opponents with their combined skills.” Kise whispers, putting a hand on Aomine’s shoulder. Aomine simply nods to this but he is now mostly annoyed at himself, internally screaming, painfully dying to play full-mode with these guys already. As the game progresses, it gets even more infuriating that he has to hold back and can only speculate how Kise, Kagami and Kuroko are like during official matches.

Up to now, all Aomine does is keep being a reliable support to Kise, who is pretty much doing a good job at stopping Kagami’s fire power but with Kuroko tipping the balance, Aomine doubts Kise alone could keep up with the score. And he wants to do something so badly, he’s more than sure his and Kise’s combined abilities will put Kagami and Kuroko to shame. 

_ But you’re a useless novice now and you’ve signed up for this_, a dark voice in Aomine’s head reminds him, makes him hyper-conscious of his actions that he lost focus on the ball when Kise has made a long chest pass, thus, allowing Kuroko to intercept and pass it to Kagami, who is as free and unguarded as a hawk in the skies for an alley-oop.

One more shot and the light-and-shadow duo will surely take the game. Kagami stretches his arms to give Kuroko a fistbump while Aomine watches and seethes, a curse word dangling at the tip of his tongue.

“We’ll get it back, Aominecchi. I won’t let us lose,” Kise says before he wipes the sweat off the side of his mouth with the collar of his shirt.

“What was that, Kise?” Kagami looks over his shoulder at the blond.

Kise just shrugs. “Nothing, Kagamicchi. Just telling Aominecchi here that we’re gonna win this.”

“Ever so confident, model-kun?” Kagami taunts, tossing the ball back to Kise. He then turns to Aomine with a smirk. “Sorry, Aomine but we’re not gonna go easy on you. Perhaps you’ll have your chance after you’re done with your lessons from Kise.”

Hearing this strikes a nerve so hard, it makes Aomine wish to shove the ball into the red head’s mouth if just to wipe off that stupid smirk and later, wipe the floor clean with Kagami himself so the latter will know his rightful place.

Aomine clucks his tongue, returns the smirk, and retorts with a taunting voice, “talk all you want but you _ can’t _ beat us, Kagami. That’s all I’m saying.”

Tension frizzles across the air as Kagami throws his head back with a devious grin. He addresses Kise without averting his gaze from Aomine. “Hey, Kise, how about teaching your protégé to swallow his pride chicken, later?”

“Quit yapping, you two and let’s finish this!” They all heard Kise say.

The light and shadow duo are playing in sync more than ever, but Aomine can tell they’re having a hard time as well, now that he has learned to keep his eye on Kuroko. The teal head really can’t match his footwork and doesn’t really shoot at all and once Aomine has shut him down, Kagami can’t get hold of the ball, leaving Kise free to score some points. And score he did. Both teams are just a single shot away from victory, causing everyone to fight tooth and nail for that final point. Kagami has the possession but Kise, with his sharp eyes and agile movements, manages to snip the ball from the red head’s grasp and goes for a fast break up court. Kagami quickly sprints back to defense and runs after the blond, too determined to stop Kise at all costs. Kuroko almost disappears again from Aomine’s sight but Aomine has kind of figured out what Kuroko is about to do, and chances are high, Kuroko will be able to subvert Kise’s dribbling and steal the ball back for Kagami.

Aomine hovers closer to his teammate, catches Kise’s eye, and in his mind, wills the blond to trust him, to pass him the ball, to let him finish this. With Kagami and Kuroko crowding his shooting space, Kise gives in.

But Kagami’s speed is just like a tornado, he can be at one place and at another in a blink, and finally, the moment that Aomine’s been waiting for arrives. It’s quite clear in Kagami’s eyes that he’s hell-bent on destroying Aomine to pieces if the latter gets in his way to victory. With a smirk, Aomine quickens his pace. To show Kagami who’s gonna eat that pride chicken later becomes Aomine’s life mission at the moment. Allowing his reflexes to fully take over, Aomine pulls his weight and jumps as high as he could; Kagami, thirsty for blood, meets him in the air, a mass of body blocking all possible aim. But there isn’t a perfect moment as this for sweet revenge. Aomine quickly switches the ball from one hand to the other and does a fade-away shot, his body almost parallel to the ground. 

Everybody watches in awe, as the ball lands inside the basket, a smooth swoosh like it’s always meant to fall in that way.

“What the fuck, how did— your angle’s off before you threw the ball!” Kagami looks at the basket then points back to Aomine like he’d just grown an extra head.

_ Ah, shit_. He forgot he’s supposed to put on an act. “I got lucky, I guess…” Aomine spits out an awkward chuckle as he brings his right hand to scratch the back of his head. “I just did what I have to do… never thought it would go in.”

“But that’s so awesome, Aominecchi!” Kise walks to him, both hands raised for a high five. “See, we won because of you!”

And seeing Kise so delighted, so impressed, is like winning the lottery twice, maybe even better.

“That’s cool, Aomine-kun,” Kuroko finally says something and to Aomine’s sudden panic and embarrassment, the short teen has looked impressed by Aomine’s feat.

“But of course! He’s my protégé, after all!” Kise brags to his friends, making Aomine wiggle uncomfortably in his spot, his only solace is to look down onto his feet, his basketball sneakers seemingly the most interesting thing in the world at the moment. Aomine tunes out the other boys’ conversations out as he begs his lucky stars to let him off the hook for this one, final time. He’ll confess to all his crimes the next time he meets Kise, he swears.

Fortunately, the interest in his formless shot has died a quieter death with both Kise and Kagami bickering about how they’ll beat each other’s ass for the Rookie of the Year award. As he listens, Aomine bites back a smile. He’s been dead set on that award, too, and he can’t wait to see Kise, Kagami and Kuroko’s full potential.

When both teams were ready to part ways after their little game--Aomine and Kise together, while Kagami and Kuroko stroll to the opposite direction—Aomine peers over his shoulder at the light and shadow pair and catches Kuroko staring, but with a strangely deadpan expression, his steel-blue eyes probing Aomine’s navy ones. When they tear their gazes from each other, it leaves Aomine baffled and a little bit wary for some reason he can’t put a finger on.

* * *

The next morning, Aomine is perched on the bench, impatiently counting the minutes before Kise arrives for their usual basketball tutorials. For the first time, the blond is running late to their weekend rendezvous and the tanned boy can’t sit still, for the life of him. He keeps checking his phone screen for any messages for the nth time during the past half hour and surveys his surroundings but not even a trace of his mentor’s shadow can be found lurking anywhere in their meeting place.

With patience running low and worry coming in spades, he finally sends Kise a text.

> **Sent to Kise Ryouta:** Hey, you coming? Is everything alright?

Aomine adds the weary cat-face emoji just for good measure.

In less than a minute, his phone beeps. Aomine’s heart lurches just as he reads the reply.

> **From Kise Ryouta:** Funny how I get up early every weekend for this shit. Turns out, you don’t really need my help at all. Don’t waste anymore of my time, panther!!!

Panther—his moniker back in high school. That last word makes Aomine wince, makes him wish to go back to that first meeting with Kise, makes him regret that little lie that started it all.

_ Well, fuck. _


	2. You'll never know dear, how hard I fell for you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aomine's little lie blew up to his face, so to speak, and now, Kise doesn't want anything to do with him. But to win back Kise's heart, Aomine has to go through some lengths to prove his worth...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, thanks to everyone who sent love on the first chapter! It's been a while. (I know, I kept saying that, ugh. And I even said that I'll update soonest. Sorry about everything.) I wanted to wrap this up for AoKise day but as usual, I got swamped by irl stuff.
> 
> To make up for my dismal updates, tho, here's chapter 2. I ended up reworking the direction of this fic from what was originally planned, had written a clutter of things and decided that this will work better if I put it out here as a three-chapter story. Please still give this a chance.

Weekend mornings have always been quiet and comfortable and are usually looked forward to with gusto by Oikawa and his roommate. A whiff of brewed coffee coupled with the buttery aroma of oven-fresh bagels from the corner bakery wafting around the apartment always makes for a relaxed and laid-back mood, a welcome respite after a grueling week at uni.

Today is an exception, though.

“I can’t believe I fell for it, Oikawacchi, he’s such a prick and he totally took advantage of my good heart!” Kise yammered, clutching his chest. “He’s been fooling me for weeks and I didn’t have the slightest idea!”

Oikawa adds more sugar to his coffee cup and throws Kise a pitying glance as he stirs the beverage slowly. Kise had come bouncing home yesterday grinning from ear to ear, gushing about how his “new friend” whom he’s helping to learn basketball had gone against the star player of a rival university and won. And the blond had been endlessly talking about “Aominecchi this, Aominecchi that” in the past couple of weeks, too, Oikawa’s been sure his roommate is falling head-over-heels for the guy in question. 

Until Oikawa wakes up this morning and finds Kise sipping black coffee with a mood as dark as his drink. Kise has told Oikawa that one of his friends had found out last night that this Aomine Daiki wasn’t as bad in basketball as he claimed himself to be, he might as well be a prodigy just like Kise. Oikawa can’t wrap his mind around it either, how someone could deliberately lie about stuff like that, unless the guy really had shady motives. 

“You sure you’ve never heard of his name before?” Oikawa asks.

“Nope.” Kise shakes his head. “Kurokocchi said he played for Touou Academy in high school but I couldn’t remember playing against them in the Nationals last year. And that 'aho wasn’t easy to miss either, I would’ve known if I played him.”

Oikawa eyes Kise silently from across their small table, not really sure of what to say to his roommate. All he can offer the blond is a listening ear.

“I can’t believe my luck. Why do I always end up with jerks?” Kise complains with a heavy sigh and to be honest, Oikawa feels sorry for his friend. Kise’s ex is a junior in their university and the two had gone steady for a couple of months until Kise called the relationship off because the guy had been too possessive and jealous, to the point that he wanted Kise to quit modeling. As far as Oikawa can tell, Kise is someone who likes to venture in his own space, who isn’t going to let himself be tied down and have anyone make decisions for himself. 

“Ki-chan, at least you found out early what kind of person he is before it gets worse, right?” Oikawa offers with a sincere smile. “The right person will come along soon. Don’t fret about it.”

“Thanks, Oikawacchi.” Kise smiles back but Oikawa knows that it has taken the blond such effort to do it. His golden eyes always give him away.

Kise’s phone blips beside his coffee mug. The blond’s features droop to a frown again as he reaches for the device. He types furiously on the screen for several moments before laying it facedown on the table. 

“I’m over it.” Kise shrugs. “I blocked his number.”

“Good.” Oikawa nods. “Um, how about you come with us,” he suggests, referring to himself and Iwaizumi. He worries about Kise being depressed and alone in their apartment, plus, he really enjoys the blond’s company. “We’re going to see ‘First Love Dies Last’.”

“To third wheel? Nah, it’s okay.”

“It’s gonna be fine, my Iwa-chan won’t mind either.”

To this, Kise chuckles. “Thanks, but I’ll be fine moping by myself around here. You and Iwaizumicchi go right ahead and enjoy the rest of the day. And don’t worry about me.”

* * *

Several days have come and gone but he’s never heard from Kise again. Aomine spends his days brooding and wallowing in anxiousness because there’s no one to turn to, there seems to be no solution to his problem and he’s only got himself to blame for it. Desperate, he made up his mind to share his embarrassing plight with his bestfriend, Momoi Satsuki, who’s currently studying in England on a scholarship. Unfortunately, she’s of no help to the crisis and had just gunned Aomine’s already dejected ego down with sharp words.

“You absolute dumbass! Now that I’m not around to look after you, you can’t even get your shit together!” She scolds Aomine over Facetime. “Everyone knew who Kise Ryouta was! And you had the nerve to lie to him! Serves you right!” 

“I never knew, okay? I regret everything. Really.”

From the screen, Aomine observes how his bestfriend had raised a perfectly-arched pink eyebrow at him.

“Looks to me, you’re pretty much into him now. But I think you screwed up.”

Aomine shrugs.

Satsuki begins massaging her temples. “I wish there’s something I can do to help you, Dai-chan.”

Aomine has looked away before he says dejectedly, “I know you'd say that.” 

His bestfriend heaves out a sigh. “Listen. There’s gotta be a way around this. You’re stupid but I know you’re a good guy.”

“Wow, thanks. That really helped,” Aomine mutters.

“Don’t give up, okay?”

“Hell, no. Never.” 

“What are you gonna do about it?”

“Get him to talk to me at least.”

“Well, good luck. Don’t make it worse, though,” Satsuki reminds him. Aomine nods, hoping as well for the same thing. Despite having achieved no solution, he feels better after speaking to Satsuki, assured that there's at least one soul out there who's been rooting for him.

* * *

Aomine feels helpless but definitely not hopeless. This must be like a game of basketball, that no matter how dire a situation looks, there’s always a chance to outplay the opponent and win in the end.

Before heading home everyday, Aomine makes a detour to the street court where he and Kise used to meet, hoping to catch a glimpse of the blond who’s been driving him insane for the past month or so. 

On weekends, Aomine wakes up early, gets his gears and runs back to the same street court, making it a point to arrive much earlier than their usual call time. Everytime he finds the place deserted, his heart would break a little inside of him, though.

Yet, Aomine still lingers.

He’d sit down on the bench to wait, looking around aimlessly; sometimes, he’d shoot some balls down the hoop, trying to guess the number of shots he’d make until the blond shows up. Kise never does but just as he’d told Satsuki, Aomine doesn’t give up. He would wait some more until a few guys come in. Some of them would even ask Aomine to play but he’s never really up for it so he declines all of their invitations. He comes here for a reason and finds himself not very enthused to play unless it’s with Kise.

One Saturday morning, though, Aomine finds someone rather familiar at the court, the short, teal-haired guy Kise calls Kuroko.

“Aomine-kun,” Kuroko acknowledges Aomine though his face betrays no emotion.

Hope has sprouted from Aomine’s heart at the sight of Kuroko, but at the same time, he feels a bit peeved, remembering that it's either him or Kagami who had discovered his true identity and ratted him out to Kise. But then, Kuroko might just be able to help him so Aomine decides to take the chance.

“Hey,” Aomine says. He’s never been good with small talk but he’s determined to try. “Nice day for playing, isn’t it?”

Kuroko merely nods before he dropped his bag on the bench beside Aomine’s. Aomine observes as Kise’s friend sat on the bench, too, and unzipped his bag. A moment later, Aomine has felt intrigued when the head of a puppy peeks out from Kuroko’s bag.

“Woah.” Seeing the dog came as a pleasant surprise to Aomine. It stares right at him with huge, light-blue eyes quite like its human before jumping into Kuroko’s lap. It wags its little tail and seems to enjoy it a lot when Kuroko tickles its belly, its short, fluffy legs flailing against the tiny basketball uniform it wears on its plump body. 

“What’s its name?” Aomine asked.

“Nigou,” Kuroko replies without looking at him.

“Nigou, huh? That’s… an interesting name. And uh, he’s really cute.”

Kuroko’s hand halts from stroking the puppy’s underside. He lifts his face to meet Aomine’s eyes. 

“I’m pretty sure you didn’t come here to admire my dog, Aomine-kun.”

Aomine almost draws back, stunned by Kuroko’s bluntness. It makes Aomine’s job less exasperating so he gets to the point.

“Right. Is Kise coming to play with you today?” Aomine asks Kuroko.

Before Kuroko can open his mouth, a voice speaks up.

“Hate to break it up to you but not a chance, Panther. Not when he might run into you again.” Another person suddenly butts into the conversation. It’s none other than the other half of the light-and-shadow duo, the annoying redhead named Kagami. 

Aomine’s mood instantly darkens.

He has done a bit of research on his own, looking into the profile of Kuroko and this loudmouth with split eyebrows. Kagami and Kuroko had won a Winter Cup championship and had consistently played in the finals together during their high school years. Kagami’s personal achievements were fairly notable and the discovery sparks Aomine’s interest, making him feel challenged, somehow. Growing up and acquiring his basketball training from the US makes Kagami a high-rank power forward in Tokyo, pretty much like Aomine himself, who’s been one of the top-tier players in Kansai region where he had come from.

“Isn’t it rude to just butt into a conversation or has it always been your thing, Tiger?” Aomine returns the snark.

“Well, it doesn’t hurt to be careful, right? There are _ suspicious _people everywhere.”

Furious, Aomine gets to his feet, his eyes like daggers on Kagami. “You got a problem, baka?”

“Hey,” Kuroko decides to intrude, but his face continues to sport the same deadpan expression.

“Lost your chill already, Ahomine?” Kagami taunts, ignoring Kuroko.

“Kagami-kun, stop,” Kuroko warns. The puppy who seems to sense the tension starts barking at the three of them.

“Did you tell Kise about me?” Aomine takes a step closer to the redhead.

“What if I did? Does it matter? You’ve lied, doesn’t change anything.” Kagami sneers as he observes that the other is easily provoked.

Clenching his fist, Aomine is ready to lunge at Kagami but Kuroko is between them in a blink.

“It’s me, I told Kise-kun. While we were playing and I was marking you, I knew something was up so I had to find the real deal about you. Kise-kun is my friend, I have to tell him,” Kuroko admits, his voice calm yet resolute, but the way he looks at Aomine says differently.

“Look.” Aomine begins to explain. “It’s not what you think, okay? I was going to tell him the truth until the two of you showed up.”

“But what’s the deal, Ahomine, are you a stalker or something?” Kagami asks with a scowl. “Kise’s always had weird fans like that.”

“I told you, I’m not a stalker. And not a fan, too,” Aomine says. “I just wanted to be his friend.”

“By lying?” Kagami interrupts again. Aomine really wants to shove a basketball into his big mouth.

“Kise-kun puts up with different kinds of people everyday--fans, admirers, even stalkers. I hope you understand that, Aomine-kun. And after what you did, he isn’t sure if you can be trusted. To be honest, we’re not so sure either,” Kuroko says.

“It was wrong and I’m really sorry now,” Aomine tells them. “I just want to apologize to Kise. Can you just tell him? Please?”

Nigou, the dog, saunters and circles between Aomine’s feet, to the latter’s surprise. It sniffs on his left shoe before barking up thrice. Aomine scoots low to pet the dog who seems to easily warm up to his touch.

“There, buddy. Good boy,” Aomine whispers as he ruffles the fur on the dog’s head.

Suddenly, Kagami speaks up with a smirk. “How about a game, Ahomine? If you beat me, maybe I’d let Kise know.”

“You mean you’d help me talk to him?” Aomine clarifies, his ears perking up.

Kagami shrugs. “If you win.”

“Now, we’re really talking, Tiger.”

“Kagami-kun, I don’t think this is a good idea,” Kuroko says.

“What, you think he’d beat me?” Kagami turns to Kuroko then back to Aomine again. “C’mon, let’s see if what they say about this Panther is true.”

“See for yourself, Bakagami.” Aomine can’t help the smile on his lips, a sudden thrill seemingly jolting his senses. “You better keep your word.”

The red head simply scoffs while Kuroko remains silent beside him, his gaze intense on Aomine.

* * *

Aomine can’t remember the last time he’d wanted to win so bad. With every ounce of energy he’s got, he played against Kagami as if his <strike>love</strike>life is on the line.

* * *

If anyone wants to hang out with Kise, one has to give him word a few weeks prior so he can make adjustments to his busy schedule accordingly, and to make sure that it won’t go in conflict with any of his modeling gigs, basketball practice, study groups or his own me-time.

But Kise makes quite a few exceptions to close friends and to people whom he respects because in the kind of world he builds his career on, real friendships are rare and precious. His real friends make him thrive and Kise would gladly make time for them amidst his busy schedule.

So when Kagami and Kuroko had asked him if he could meet them after school one Friday night because they would be in the area scouting nearby shopping malls for new basketball sneakers, Kise hadn’t had second thoughts about coming to meet them.

Kagami had said that he and Kuroko will meet Kise at this newly-opened steak house just three train stations away from Kise’s uni.

When Kise arrives, the light and shadow duo are already waiting for him at one of the tables, sitting next to each other.

“Kagamicchi, Kurokocchi!” Kise greets his friends cheerfully, sliding into a chair across Kagami.

“Hey, Kise.” Kagami greets him back with a rather sheepish smile. Kuroko, however, hasn’t said anything.

“Did you order already?” Kise asks while leafing through the menu. “What’s their house special?”

“We waited for you so we haven’t yet. They serve skillet steak here with pepper and onions. It’s low-calorie, I thought you might like it,” Kagami explains, barely looking at Kise’s face.

“Sounds yummy, I’ll have that!” Kise replies excitedly. “You’re really very thoughtful, Kagamicchi!”

“Uh,” Kagami looks away and Kise isn’t quite sure if he’s blushing or if his eyes are just playing tricks on him.

“I’m so glad you came to see me!” Kise closes the menu and lays it on the side. “So, did you get your new shoes? Which one did you buy?”

“Ah, Kise, actually…” Kagami hesitates, rubbing his nape. “There’s someone we’d like you to meet.”

“There’s someone that _ Kagami-kun _ would like you to meet,” Kuroko finally speaks up, quickly amending the red head’s statement. On his side, Kagami winces.

“Huh?” Kise blinks in confusion.

“Hey, Kise,” someone says from behind and when Kise turns around, his eyes land on the familiar tanned skin, navy hair and intense blue eyes of Aomine Daiki, the last person Kise expects to see today. Barely comprehending what’s happening, Kise watches in stunned silence as Aomine approaches their table and plants his ass on the chair right next to his.

“Woah, wait, I don’t understand, what is this? What's _he_ doing here?” Kise visibly stiffens, turning to his friends for answers.

“He likes to talk to you so here we are.” Kagami gulps.

“Kagami-kun lost to Aomine-kun and he promised Aomine-kun here that he’d help him meet with you.” Kuroko reveals the truth without even blinking.

“Oh my god.” Kise brings a hand to his forehead as he tries to connect the dots together. “You-- you can’t be serious, right? How could you, Kagamicchi? You know how I feel about this, right? And Kurokocchi, how could you let this happen?”

“Sorry, Kise. All my fault.” Kagami mumbles, too guilty to make eye contact with Kise.

“Unbelievable. I never thought you’d do this to me.” Kise shakes his head, anger bubbling up inside him. He feels disappointed. And utterly betrayed. He grabs his bag and stands up before his temper gets the better of him.

“Kise, please…” Aomine tries to stop him from leaving but Kise has had enough of this crazy situation.

“I don’t want to deal with you anymore, why can’t you understand that?” Kise retorts. “And did you have to rope my friends into this mess? Are my feelings a joke to you?”

That left Aomine stupefied on the spot.

Kise storms off without waiting for any of the three to speak.

“Kise, wait,” Aomine wants to run after the blond but Kuroko and Kagami are adamant to make him change his mind.

“It’s no good, Aomine-kun. Just let it go,” Kuroko says.

Falling back to his seat with a groan, Aomine drops his face onto his palms. 

“I’m screwed, right?” Aomine mutters.

“We’re all screwed, Aho.” Kagami states. “And whose fault was it?”

“Hey, isn’t this your idea?” Aomine scowls at the redhead.

“Well, if you’ve been honest from the start, we wouldn’t find ourselves in this situation!” Kagami points an accusing finger at Aomine. “Now, we’re all unfriended!”

“Stop, it’s pointless to argue,” Kuroko tells them. “Kagami-kun, I warned you before but you didn’t listen. Deal with it. And as for you, Aomine-kun, you’re on your own, now.” 

* * *

Aomine’s back to square one or maybe, far below from square one after his last encounter with the blond. 

Kuroko had said that they ought to give Kise more time. From what Kuroko recalls, Kise is not the type of person who holds grudges. Aomine doubts he’ll be absolved as easily as Kagami and Kuroko, though. He thinks that Kise may eventually let the two off the hook but as for himself, well, the future doesn’t look too promising. 

He decides and tries very hard to lie low for a bit but the more he restrains himself, the more restless he gets. Whenever it becomes too quiet in his dorm room in the evening, Aomine finds himself missing their late night phone calls or texts. He’d remember how Kise would pout whenever Aomine teases him about eating so little right after their little basketball sessions, and Aomine would smile to himself while the blond’s face continues to linger in his thoughts. Aomine misses the way Kise commits himself to sharing his basketball knowledge with him every weekend, the gentle brush of Kise’s damp skin against his, how his golden eyes can look wild in one second and so tender by the next that it drives Aomine crazy. He even misses that cute, stupid suffix added to his name that only Kise can pull off. Most of all, he misses the smile that could light up even the darkest alleys of Tokyo at night, the smile that could practically bring Aomine to his knees. Now, because of his stupidity, there’s nothing left for him but gloomy thoughts. Aomine groans in frustration. Maybe, he does deserve this.

* * *

When the coach had announced that a practice match with Meiji U’s basketball team is scheduled by the end of the week, Aomine isn’t sure if he’ll be happy or worried about the news. Of course, he’s excited to see Kise, to play ball with him again and finally get a good gauge of his skill. On the other hand, this means that he ought to come clean and play his best and it makes Aomine worry that it’ll just fuel Kise’s resentment towards him.

Sure enough, Kise gives him the death glare the moment Aomine steps into Meiji University’s basketball gym. He gives Kise a small smile and a tentative wave of the hand but the blond’s gaze remains feral on him, stalking his every move. Before the referee blows the whistle, Kise inches closer to Aomine’s side and slips a few words quietly into his ear.

“Don’t you dare hold back or I’ll kill you,” Kise warns.

“Don’t worry. I’d like to make it up to you by giving you a good fight,” Aomine tells him.

Aomine steals one, last glance at Kise before the referee blows his whistle and tosses the ball up between the tallest players of the opposing teams.

Aomine keeps true to his word during the game, playing his darn best even if this is just a practice match. It gets him even more psyched when the coach tells him ‘to keep the opposing team’s blond rookie in check _ all the time’ _, Aomine thinks that this will make up for that best first impression he had tried to nail during their first meeting, but epically failed to do so. He’s pretty sure that Kise’s not going easy on him as well, seeing how agile he becomes, the intense vibes he gives off while Aomine’s marking him. And boy, Kise is really something. Aomine is glad that he’s less distracted by Kise’s beauty now (though he still falls prey to it from time to time) and can just admire the blond’s exquisite game sense. He’s never met anyone so versatile in the court, and he’s even more in awe when Kise launches on him, an almost exact copy of Aomine’s own basketball style.

_ Fucking amazing_, Aomine thinks, after Kise makes a power dunk that mimics the one that Aomine just did several moments ago. The fire in Aomine’s nerves just got wilder, he wants to see more, to play harder, to bring himself onto the edge of a challenge. He doesn’t just want to win now, he wants to _ conquer _Kise. 

Before the game ended, Kise has to make the crucial shot, and Aomine’s right on his heels to make sure that he doesn’t get the winning point. They’re both sweating and huffing, relying solely on their instincts to outsmart each other. Funnily enough, Aomine can’t help but marvel at Kise’s technique and at the same time, feel worried for the blond, who seems to be exerting quite an effort to keep up with his copying skills. It’s fascinating to understand how much that lithe body of his could endure the rush of such energy all throughout the game. 

With his momentum at its peak, Kise makes the drive. Aomine still doesn’t know which way he’d go but somehow, it feels like Kise will do something that’s bound to surprise him. At the last second, he realized that Kise might just exploit his blind spot. 

If it were Aomine, he’d definitely drive by the right, do a crossover, take the shot and just rely on his aim. However, Kise’s golden eyes flicker very subtly to the left and that was when Aomine had known that Kise would make the pass. Reaching forward, Aomine’s fingertips connect with the ball at the precise moment, thus ruining its trajectory as it sails through the air and fails to make it to the hands of Kise’s teammate who’s supposed to make the final shot.

The sound of the final buzzer fills the gym. Soon, Aomine is swarmed by his teammates, hands patting his back, others, ruffling his hair.

“Great job, Aomine-kun!” His captain is beaming at him like he’d just won the lottery. 

Past his captain’s shoulder, Aomine’s eyes find Kise’s dejected face before he gets escorted by his teammates to the lockers and suddenly, it doesn’t feel like winning.

* * *

He waits by the gym exit doors, seconds crawling into minutes. Aomine has told his teammates to go on ahead without him, he’ll just catch up with them later because there’s something that he really needs to do. 

_ C’mon, just turn around and look at me. _Aomine chants in his mind, patiently watching in the distance as Kise and the rest of his teammates clean the floor and the benches and put away their stuff in the supply room. Several more minutes until the rest of the team retreats to their lockers, looking ready to wash up and leave the gym.

Aomine’s head jolts when the players of Meiji team, in their blue and white jackets, finally exit the gym. He scans the group for the blond but strangely, Kise’s not with them. When the team captain had noticed Aomine's presence, he halted his steps and went straight to confront Aomine.

“What are you still doing here, Aomine Daiki?” The question almost comes as a warning from Kise's captain, a short guy with an intimidating presence.

“Senpai,” Aomine addresses the other man as neutrally as possible. “I’m waiting for Kise.”

“Why? Are you here to rub salt to his wound?” The captain asks again and while Aomine wants to snap at him for not minding his own business, Aomine decides that it's more convenient to keep his cool.

“I’m his friend,” Aomine says.

The captain gives him a once over before saying, “well, too bad, he already left earlier before us.”

“Earlier?” Aomine repeats. “How could that be, I’ve been waiting here the whole time.”

“Yeah? Then he must’ve gone through the fire exit. There’s one at the back.”

Aomine groans inwardly. Kise is pretty elusive when he wants to be, he thinks.

“Alright, senpai,” Aomine says while shaking his head in surrender. He turns to his heels and walks away quickly.

* * *

Oikawa knows something was up when his roommate came home that day, a thundering grumble with the blond’s every step inside their apartment.

“He’s so freaking cool, Oikawacchi!” Kise cries. “I was duped!”

Oikawa gets up to a sitting position on the couch, putting his textbook aside. “Who?”

“That idiot Aomine Daiki! I just lost a game to him!” Kise says before rushing inside his bedroom and slamming the door.

Kise seems to be one-upped by the guy and he feels sorry for his roommate. He gets up and knocks on the blond’s door.

“Ki-chan?”

When Kise doesn’t answer, he plants his hand on the knob. When Oikawa discovers that it isn’t locked, he slowly lets himself inside and finds his roommate, a pillow hugged to his chest, eyes all red and shiny.

“Hey.” Oikawa pats Kise’s shoulder gently.

“I’m mad.” Kise sniffs. “For losing and for not seeing that he’s faking it the whole time. He’s so good!”

“You’re amazing, too,” Oikawa points out.

“No, Aominecchi is on a different league. You should’ve seen it,” Kise whines, wiping his eyes. “Why am I even crying over him? Ugh, I don’t understand myself.”

Oikawa understands. He knows his roommate has had the biggest crush on this stranger right on their first meeting and must have fallen in love during the whole time they’ve been hanging out together every week. Oikawa had noticed how his golden eyes light up, how his voice changes cadence everytime he speaks about this guy, how Kise’s been really worked up every Friday night for what he’s going to teach Aomine, eager for Saturday mornings to come around.

“It’s totally okay to cry. That’s part of moving on.”

“We’re not even dating,” Kise’s lips slide into a pout.

“Moving on from your crush that’s what.”

“You know, Oikawacchi, I still can’t stop thinking about him,” Kise makes a confession.

“It’s probably going to get worse if you keep resisting those thoughts,” Oikawa says with a smile. “Try to keep yourself occupied with other stuff. You’ll forget him, eventually.”

* * *

Even though it looks like Kise has shut him out of his life for good, Aomine still doesn't want to give up. Sometimes, he thinks that maybe he’s already gone crazy.

It doesn’t help that he has become acutely aware of Kise’s presence everywhere. He’d play basketball and remembers Kise. When he sees a blond head, he thinks of Kise. Aomine passes by some of the girls along the halls while making his way to the cafeteria and he overhears them giggling and talking about the new picture Kise posted on his Instagram. After buying his lunch, Aomine gets a secluded table to himself at the far end of the cafeteria, pulls Kise’s Instagram account and likes all of his 1,756 posts while chomping on several teriyaki burgers. On the train station everyday, he gets to see Kise’s smiling face on some of the ads hanging on walls. One time, he passes by a magazine stand and catches the familiar face of the blond on the cover. Without second thoughts, he pulls several hundred yen from his wallet and buys himself Kise’s latest photobook.

Aomine leafs through the pages of the photobook, admires Kise in different clothes and poses and feels his cheeks heat up. Why does he even feel this way? Back in high school, he’s got a massive gravure magazine collection and he’s not even as half-embarrassed as he is right now while looking at them. There’s a page with a feature article on Kise, as well as some random information about the model.

> **Birthday**: _June 18_
> 
> **Hobbies**: _Basketball, singing_
> 
> **Favorite** **color**: _Blue_
> 
> **Favorite food**: _Onion gratin soup_

Aomine knew all of these already. However, there are some details that are new to Aomine as well.

> **Favorite movie**: All _Harry Potter movies_
> 
> **Favorite flower**: _Sunflower_
> 
> **Ultimate dream**: _To play in the NBA and travel the world twice._

Aomine closes the photobook with a sigh and puts it on his nightstand. Now there’s Harry Potter, sunflowers and airplanes to remind him more of Kise.

* * *

After his last class, Aomine doesn’t have a basketball practice to go to so he decides on a whim to visit Kise at Meiji University and ask for the blond’s forgiveness once and for all. He’s willing to beg on his knees if necessary, if just to clear things up and not be taken as some stalker or any sort of bad guy.

He’s never brought anyone flowers before except his mom but this time, he stops by a flower boutique to look for something that Kise might like.

“I want sunflowers,” Aomine says, without beating around the bush, to the lady who runs the shop.

The florist smiles up at him and quickly whips up a bouquet that she calls ‘Sunset Love’, made up of several stems of fresh sunflowers, red roses and a cluster of white statice flowers on the side. It looks very pretty and Aomine hopes that Kise will like it. He pays up and leaves, carefully cradling the delicate bouquet between his arms, not minding the odd stares he gets from the people he passes by. He groans because it’s unusually windy today, and he’s afraid that the flowers might get ruined.

Aomine approaches the entrance to the basketball gym and to his surprise, Kise’s right there, standing outside with his back towards Aomine, talking to this tall guy with spiky silver hair. Said guy has an athletic build, too, but he doesn’t seem to be one of Kise’s teammates or it’s just that Aomine doesn’t remember any of the Meiji U’s players with spiky silver hair from their previous practice match. Aomine observes as silver-haired guy lays a hand on one of the blond’s shoulders but Kise had pushed his hand away in a self-defensive manner.

“Just leave me alone, I don’t want to see you anymore,” Kise argues, his eyes narrowed.

“Babe, look, I was wrong to treat you like that--” is what the other guy tells the blond.

“Don’t ‘babe’ me! It’s over between us!”

“But what if I don’t want us to be over?”

There’s something oddly provoking in the way this guy is acting around Kise and before Aomine can thoroughly think the situation through, his legs move forward on their own accord, making his presence known to the silver-haired guy and to Kise, who looked like he’s just seen a ghost.

“Dude,” Aomine gives the stranger a menacing stare. “He says he wants you to leave.”

“Go mind your fucking business, bitch!” annoyed at the sudden interruption, Silver-hair returns Aomine’s gaze with equal displeasure, his brows snapping together. He notices the flowers and scoffs. “Ryouta, don’t tell me, you’re dating again?” 

To Aomine’s shock, Kise saunters closer beside him and links their arms together, his pale, supple fingers lacing on Aomine’s dark and bony ones.

“Yes,” Kise assures the silver-haired guy. “He’s my new boyfriend and he’s come to take me home. So fuck off.”

Amidst the confusion, Aomine lets himself be pulled by Kise, away from the silver-haired guy and from the gym then out of the school gates. 

“Who was that?” Among the many thoughts running through his mind, it’s the question that slips out of Aomine’s mouth.

“My ex,” Kise says, glancing behind them. “Act natural, he might be following us.”

“Ha?” Kise’s ex-boyfriend. That took a while to sink in.

Without further questions, Aomine gets dragged along an unfamiliar alley, and he tries to act cool, nevermind the curious stares that the people are giving him when they recognize that it’s the model’s hand he’s been holding on to. The streetlamps flicker to life as the sun sets into the horizon and soon, the two of them are in what seems like a street with houses that all looked the same. It dawns on Aomine that this might be the place where Kise lives, just a few-minute walk from the uni, but then, he’s not so sure.

“Are you bringing me to your apartment?” Aomine inquires but Kise simply lets his question hang in the air.

A strong wind blows through them and the petals on the flowers flutter with the breeze. Aomine cradles the bouquet closer to his chest, making sure that it still looks decent before he hands it over to Kise.

They finally stop by one of the houses, right in front of this green-colored wooden door.

Kise lets go of his hand. He takes the flowers and as if Aomine has not had enough surprises that day, Kise wraps his arms around Aomine’s neck and leans his chin on Aomine’s shoulder. At the unexpected gesture, Aomine thinks his heart might just burst but Kise’s next words slams his dreams back to earth.

“Thank you for the flowers. But I do hope this will be the last time I’ll ever see you.” Kise whispers over Aomine’s ear.

Before Aomine can recover from the shock, Kise has already pulled away and has already unlatched the front door to his apartment.

“Good night, Aominecchi,” Kise's mouth is set in a hard line before he shuts the door to Aomine’s face.

“Kise, wait! Just one minute!” 

Silence.

“Kise please…”

Aomine knocks twice.

“I’m not leaving until you let me explain… Please…”

There's still no answer from the other side of the door. Aomine leans his head against the wood and finally,

“Kise, I’m sorry.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments are super appreciated! <3  
So what else could Aomine do to change Kise's mind?  
Find out on chapter 3! I will try to write harder and faster, ahhh.


	3. You know that I won't stop until I make you mine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's as they say, when you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and just hang on. Aomine does just that and gets what he deserves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My fastest ever update yet, ahaha. Also, please mind the changes to the ratings and the tags.

Jogging all the way from uni to the apartment he shares with Kise, it has gotten dark when Oikawa finally makes it home, hair tousled up and face a bit numb from running against the wind, only to find an unfamiliar figure lurking outside their door.

The brunet skulks quietly behind the guy before he says, “hey. Are you lost?”

When the man turns to face him, a pair of dark blue eyes meeting the brunet’s hazel ones, Oikawa instantly knows. That shade of navy hair he hears about all the time. Tall, dark and blue-eyed handsome. The man before him perfectly fits the description of Kise’s mystery guy and he has to give it to his roommate, Kise sure has good taste. 

He looks lost but to Oikawa, the poor guy doesn’t seem dangerous or weird, either.

Nevertheless, Oikawa keeps his guard up. 

“What are you doing in front of my apartment?” Oikawa asks in his most snobbish tone.

“You must be Kise’s roommate. Can you please tell him that I just like to talk?”

“I don’t even know who you are,” Oikawa scoffs.

“Right, uh, sorry.” The guy looks away in embarrassment, aimlessly rubbing his nape. “I’m Aomine Daiki. I play basketball for Nihon U. Kise knew I was here.”

Oikawa raises an eyebrow. “Oh, he’s already inside? Well I think he doesn’t like to see anyone at the moment.”

“Please? I’ll wait here.” The tan guy’s shoulders have slumped, his voice desperate. There’s something about the way he begs that makes Oikawa consider helping him.

“Fine.” Oikawa shrugs and the blue-haired stranger has stepped aside. Oikawa fishes for the key from his back pocket, slips it through the knob to unlatch the lock.

After Oikawa kicks off his shoes, he totters further inside and finds Kise making tea.

“Your mystery guy is outside,” Oikawa announces.

“Oh, he hasn’t left yet?”

“Obvs. He said he wants to talk, he’s waiting.”

“Don’t want, don’t care.” Voice laced with indifference, Kise lifts the kettle and carefully pours hot water into a cup.

Gaping at his roommate, Oikawa finds the bouquet of flowers on the counter. “You took the flowers he brought but you left him outside?”

“They’re too pretty to go to waste, don’t you think? And besides, I already told him to go home. So, do you want tea?”

“Ugh, who cares about tea?” Oikawa rolls his eyes and goes back to the door. Kise is such a drama queen, sometimes.

He sees the disappointment in Aomine’s face when it wasn’t Kise who emerged.

“He said that he didn’t want to talk. You should just leave, I think it’s going to rain soon,” Oikawa tells Aomine just as the wind picks up again.

“I’m not leaving until Kise hears me out,” Aomine replies.

“Well, your choice!” Oikawa places a hand on his hip. “Good luck with that,” he says before closing the door.

When Oikawa comes back in, he finds his roommate too keen for news.

“Did he leave already?” Kise asks, his big, bright, amber eyes aimed at the setter.

“Maybe? I shooed him away just as you said. He looked kinda sad, though. And wait a minute, I thought you don’t care.” Crossing his arms over his chest, Oikawa throws a dubious look at Kise.

“Of course, I do not!” Kise has stuck his pretty little nose in the air before stomping towards the living room and plopping heavily on one of the couches, suddenly too interested in one of the fashion magazines on the coffee table. Oikawa swears that he’s seen a hint of red on the blond’s cheeks just now.

Almost half an hour later, thunder rumbles from the outside and soon, a storm has settled in. Oikawa and Kise have been watching the evening news when raindrops begin pattering loudly against the roof, drowning the sound off from the TV.

“Oh dear, good thing I got home quickly. I didn’t have an umbrella with me. Imagine getting soaked through this rain,” Oikawa comments as a clap of thunder is heard.

“Yeah, me too,” Kise says, grabbing the remote and switching the TV off.

There are words that have been stuck at the tip of Oikawa’s tongue since the moment he met Aomine and he’s curious with the way Kise’s acting up so he strikes a conversation with his roommate, hoping to get to the bottom of things.

“Y’know, Ki-chan, he doesn’t look like a bad guy to me, honestly.”

“He’s a liar, that’s not a lot of difference,” Kise responds quickly. It amuses Oikawa, how Kise knew exactly who he was referring to, hinting that Aomine must be and still be running around the blond’s mind, as well. 

“But don’t you think you’re being hard on him? He said he was sorry.” 

“If all things can be fixed by sorry, then what do we need the cops for?”

Oikawa makes a face. It isn’t the reply he expects. While he thinks about what he’ll say next, he noticed that one of the windows had been left unlatched and had kept slapping against the frame so Oikawa got up from the couch to fix it. That’s when something catches his attention from the outside.

“Oh my god, your guy is still here, look!” Oikawa claps a hand over his mouth.

“Oikwacchi, I’m not falling for that,” is what Kise says with the slightest interest in his voice.

“I wasn’t kidding, you dumbass, look!” Grabbing Kise’s hand, he pulls the blond over and points outside the window.

“Shit. Is he stupid or what?” Kise exclaims when he knows for sure that Aomine is still waiting outside their apartment under the pelting rain. 

Kise and Oikawa make a dash towards the front door. Both roommates have gasped after Kise swings the door open and finds Aomine soaked from his head down to his sneakers.

“Have you gone crazy? Why didn’t you go home?” Kise shouts, seizing Aomine by the arm and pulling him inside the apartment. Getting Aomine to come in has gotten half of Kise’s limbs soaked, too.

After letting Aomine drop his wet bag near the door, both Kise and Oikawa lead him straight to the bathroom. 

“I’ll get you some clothes to change into,” Kise says before disappearing to his bedroom while Oikawa scrambles somewhere to get a mop.

After drying himself, Kise grabs a towel, a pair of cotton pants and whatever shirt his hands have managed to get a hold of from the mountain of clothes in his closet. He comes back to a shivering Aomine, water dripping from the ends of his blue hair and from the hem of his pants, little rain puddles forming on the floor beside his feet. A twinge of guilt chews on Kise’s gut.

“Get a hot shower so you wouldn’t catch a cold,” Kise says, as he hands Aomine the clothes, barely meeting the taller man’s eyes. “Everything you’re gonna need’s in there, there’s even a blow dryer you can use.”

“Thanks.” Aomine takes the clothes and slips inside the bathroom.

Oikawa comes back and starts mopping the puddles on the floor while Kise ambles slowly back towards the couch, too dazed to make something out of the situation.

Not a word comes between Kise and Oikawa as they wait for Aomine to finish up, the hard rain outside drowning all other sounds but not quite. The squeak of the shower knob, running water hitting the cold tiles, the whirring sound made by the blow dryer from inside the bathroom filling the gaps.

Both roommates almost jumped when Aomine finally emerges from the bathroom an eternity later.

And Kise doesn’t know about Oikawa but he’s consciously aware of his own reaction, how his own jaw had dropped to the ground at the sight before him.

Aomine is half-naked.

_ How dare he! _

The lower part of his body, at least, is well-covered. But the sharp lines of Aomine’s collarbones, dark nipples perched over well-defined pecs, those taut muscles on his abdomen glistening with after-shower sheen have all been screaming ‘come get me’ at Kise and he really has forgotten how to breathe properly for a second. 

Aomine looks sideways first as though debating whether to say what’s on his mind before he shoots Kise with a rather impish smile, holding out the black shirt that Kise had let him borrow earlier. “Do you have something loose? This shirt is several sizes too small for me…”

Kise mentally facepalms when he realizes that he just handed Aomine the compression shirt he used on a photoshoot before and it’s even sheer on the front.

“Yeah, uh, sorry. Let me get you something else…” Kise quickly snatches the shirt from Aomine. He goes to his room, his face burning several degrees higher while digging through his closet for something big and definitely less revealing. Or seductive. Finally, he finds an Aeropostale sweatshirt gifted to him by one of his sisters ages ago. He hastily gives it to Aomine who said a quiet thanks before disappearing into the bathroom again.

Oikawa is quickly on Kise’s side, elbowing him, a devious grin on his face.

“Holy molly macaroni, did you see those abs?” Oikawa asks Kise. He then puts his hands in front of his chest like a pair of tiger’s claws and adds in a hushed but extremely teasing tone, “roar!” 

“Shut up, Oikawacchi!” Kise hisses but Oikawa must know that his words have no bite, Kise’s face must be remarkably betraying him.

The bathroom door swings open again and Oikawa drops his hands to his sides quickly, pretending to act all innocent. There have been several seconds of awkward silence hanging between the three of them that it brings Kise to a sudden internal panic because he isn’t exactly sure what to do next. With this raging storm, they can’t simply send Aomine to his merry way home with just an umbrella. But what if the rain doesn’t pass?

“Perhaps, you’re hungry, Aomine-kun?” Oikawa has thankfully come up with something. “Have dinner with us.”

Kise groans inwardly, though, remembering that they barely have any food in the fridge right now. 

“We only have yogurt and carrot sticks. My roommate and I are on a strict diet plan,” Kise explains, if just to manage Aomine’s expectations about this ‘dinner’ that his roommate just mentioned.

“There’s some lasagna, too, and milk bread, actually.” The brunet says as he scurries to raid the fridge.

“What? How come you have lasagna and milk bread? I thought we’re watching our calorie intake?” Kise asks.

“Because cheat days are very important, too,” Oikawa answers with a big smile. “And maybe because Aomine-kun’s not meant to die from hunger tonight.” Turning to the tan guy, Oikawa says, “come and be our guest, Aomine-kun. Ki-chan made us some tea as well.”

Thank heavens for Oikawa, who had kept the conversation flowing smoothly as the three of them sat by the table to have dinner. Kise could’ve done the same, had it not been for Aomine and if they’re in a completely different situation. Kise still finds this too awkward and he still can’t bring himself to go friendly with the power forward who lied his way to be friends with him so Kise just kept quiet on his little corner of the table, munching on his carrot sticks. Oikawa does most of the talking, anyway, asking Aomine random stuff about himself, this and that.

* * *

The storm outside is still relentless as the evening wears on.

“Let’s call it a night, shall we?” Oikawa tells Kise and Aomine, yawning dramatically. “It seems you’ll have to stay, Aomine-kun. Just make yourself at home!”

“You could crash on the couch,” Kise says.

“On the couch? But no, dear!” Oikawa suddenly objects, pointing to the furniture, “Aomine-kun won’t have enough room to lie on his back at such a very small couch.”

“It’s alright, I can just sleep on the floor, nothing to worry about,” Aomine says.

“But we can’t let you do that, Aomine-kun! What kind of hosts are we, if we can't make our guest comfortable?” Oikawa says while cupping his face. “Besides, it'll really get cold tonight 'coz of this rain, trust me, you can bet your bottom yen, you’ll have an aching back by morning. We don’t want you to suffer like that.”

Kise crosses his arms over his chest, a pout born on his lips. “Then what are you suggesting, Oikawacchi?”

Oikawa looks up to the ceiling and taps his chin with an index finger. “I think you should let Aomine-kun sleep on your bed!”

“What?” Kise and Aomine ask in unison.

“Are you saying that I should let him sleep on my bed while I sleep on the floor?” Kise retorts.

“No, Ki-chan, nothing like that!” Oikawa clears his throat. “I’m saying that you and Aomine-kun should sleep on your bed, _ together_. It’s big enough for the two of you.”

Kise blinks, unable to comprehend his roommate's words completely.

“No, no way. I’ll not share a bed with him!” Kise protests, eyeing Oikawa fiercely.

“The couch is fine, it’s just for one night, anyway,” Aomine adds.

Oikawa makes a pause, curiously studying the two basketball players in front of him. Suddenly, he has an idea.

“Then I’ll share _ my bed _with you, Aomine-kun.” As soon as Oikawa announced his decision, Kise’s eyes widened in disbelief. 

“Wait a minute, what? You’re letting him sleep on your bed?” Kise gapes like he just heard the most absurd proposition in all history. From the corner of his eye, he sees Aomine looking just as dumbfounded as he is.

“Why not? My bed’s queen-sized. There’s plenty of room. And like, we’re both adults here, I don’t mind having Aomine-kun spending the night on my bed.”

Listening to the two roommates, Aomine squirms. “Don’t worry about me. I’m okay on the couch or on the floor or even on the tub--”

“I said no,” Oikawa tells him sternly. “I won't have you sleeping anywhere else other than a proper bed and that’s final!” Adamant, he grabs one of Aomine’s arms and is about to whisk him to his bedroom when Kise finally speaks up.

“Don’t trouble yourself, Oikawacchi. I’ll let Aominecchi sleep beside me. He’s my guest after all.”

At that, Oikawa quickly lets go of the tan man’s arm and nudges him gently towards Kise.

“Oh, of course, Ki-chan! He’ll sleep soundly with you than with a stranger like me! So it’s settled, then, I’ll see you both tomorrow! Good night!” There goes Oikawa’s dramatic yawn again. He waves his hand at the two and quickly scampers to his bedroom before Kise changes his mind, chuckling quietly to himself as soon as he closes the door. He’s very smart, he thinks happily.

_ You can thank me later, Ki-chan! _Oikawa preens.

* * *

A few minutes after Kise had fixed his room and made himself ready for bed, he beckons for Aomine to come inside. 

When Aomine sets foot into the blond’s room, his gaze roams and falls on a huge dresser at one corner with several shopping bags on top, a shelf full of magazines and a small table for studying before landing on Kise who is currently perched on the left side of the bed, wearing a pajama set printed with tiny penguins. He looks like an overgrown kid, too cute in fact, that Aomine had to restrain himself from tackling him. Maybe Aomine would have, if Kise hadn’t been sneering like he contemplates of choking Aomine in his sleep.

“Listen, you keep that side of the bed and I keep mine,” Kise says dryly, putting one of the pillows in the middle. “If you stay quiet and keep your hands all to yourself, then we’re good.”

The blond then proceeds to lie down, pulling the blankets to cover himself. Aomine makes his way gingerly towards the bed and does the same. He waits for a while, staring at the blond’s back before he opens his mouth. Now that he and Kise are finally alone together, Aomine thinks he might as well take the opportunity to do what he came to see Kise for. 

“Hey, Kise, can you hear me out?”

“I just told you to keep quiet,” is Kise’s gruff reply. “This doesn’t mean anything and I’m certainly not forgiving you yet!” Dismissing Aomine, he reaches over to flick the lampshade off. Both of them are now covered in darkness, save for the ambient light coming through the window.

Aomine sighs and fixes his gaze on the ceiling where there’s really nothing to see, counting sheeps and basketballs steadily in his head. Sleep doesn’t look like it’ll come to him soon. With slow, careful movements, he turns to squint at the window to check if the downpour had stopped only to find that the storm has calmed a bit, raindrops still pelting against the glass. Within the dimness that surrounds them, he glimpses at the faint outline of Kise resting beside him, so near yet so far out, and Aomine wants nothing more than to run his fingertips along Kise’s slender neck, wrap his arms around the blond and pull him close to his chest. Yet Aomine doesn’t dare move a muscle, even if it hurts, lest he ends up dying before sunrise.

“Kise, are you still awake?” Aomine says instead. “I can’t sleep yet.”

As he expects, there’s no response from the blond.

With a heavy sigh, Aomine continues, “I’m sorry. That’s all I want to tell you. I hope you can forgive me.”

* * *

In truth, Kise has remained awake for most of the night on his side of the bed, completely still and silent, for fear that Aomine might discover that he’s really not sleeping. He’s heard everything but only pretended not to because to be honest, he hasn’t made up his mind about the Aomine yet. And also, he’d like to see Aomine apologize to his face, in broad daylight while he stares into Kise’s eyes so he can know for sure if Aomine’s being sincere or not. 

And having to pretend to be asleep is just so distressing, just why did he let himself fall for Oikawa’s trap, anyway?

Kise can’t get a shut-eye until he realized that the rain had eventually stopped. Aomine must have finally dozed off, too, since Kise can already hear the man snoring softly beside him. But the night seems to be taking forever and Kise ain’t sure what time it is nor how long he’s going to endure being wide awake in the dark. 

Too restless for sleep, Kise sits up, glances to his side and finds Aomine’s face illuminated by the soft moonlight slipping through the curtains.

“How could you sleep so peacefully at this point, you little liar?” Kise mutters, jealous of the fact that Aomine must be so deep in dreamland right now. The blue-haired boy stirs and in a sudden panic, Kise had thrown himself back into bed, shutting his eyelids tight and burying himself under the blanket. 

And what happened next blew Kise’s wits out of the water. Aomine has rolled and snuggled towards the blond, his free arm curling over Kise’s shoulder in a gentle embrace.

_ That’s it, I’m going to kill you! _

But when he hears that Aomine is still snoring, Kise sneaks a glimpse from under the blanket and finds himself face-to-face with the sleeping tan man. Their heads are so close but instead of pushing Aomine’s arm or turning away, Kise lets himself stare, savoring the moments while he can peruse Aomine’s face without anyone knowing.

_ Huh, looks so innocent and cute. But I’m not falling for that again_, Kise muses. He wants to poke a cheek but stops himself in time because he wants the moment to last a little longer, it’s been so long since he cuddled with someone and this really feels nice. Kise tugs on the blanket instead, pulling it to their chins, making sure that he and Aomine are well-covered and warm. Not that Kise’s all flushed and warm to the tips of his toes already. 

As he stares some more, marveling at Aomine’s stubborn persistence, at how the two of them had ended up sharing a bed tonight despite all his attempts to push the other man away, Kise finds himself smiling.

Aomine’s gentle facade has been the last thing on Kise’s mind before sleep finally claimed his senses.

* * *

It’s taken several moments for Aomine to figure out why he’s woken up to an unfamiliar bedroom. 

He blinks a few times, sun rays directly hitting his face from an open window. Then he jolts and sits upright when it finally clicks. 

Kise. He shared a bed with Kise last night.

Aomine scans the room but to his utter dismay, the blond is nowhere in sight. 

He slips quietly from Kise’s room to the bathroom where he fixed himself first before walking around the apartment to look for the blond.

He still hasn’t seen Kise anywhere, only Oikawa and another guy by the table having their breakfast.

“Morning, Aomine-kun!” Oikawa greets him cheerfully. “Come and have breakfast. By the way, this is my boyfriend, Iwaizumi Hajime. Iwa-chan, he’s the one I’m talking about. Aomine Daiki.”

“Morning.” Aomine approaches the two.

“Hey,” Iwaizumi nods to Aomine’s direction, his lips pursed in a straight line. The guy seems like a complete opposite to Oikawa’s happy and outgoing disposition, Aomine concludes.

“Where’s Kise?” Aomine asks.

“Said he’ll just go out for a while. He’ll come back shortly, have some breakfast first,” Oikawa insists, pointing to a tray of bagels and a pot of freshly-brewed coffee on the table.

Aomine would’ve wanted to go out and look for Kise immediately but he doesn’t want to appear rude to Oikawa and his boyfriend either, so he decides to stay for breakfast. He sits down beside Iwaizumi and gets for himself a large bagel sprinkled with sesame seeds on top. As soon as Aomine takes his first bite though, Oikawa drops his sweet demeanor.

“You know, Aomine-kun, I think I have an idea about what happened between you and Ki-chan. And I don’t blame you, Ki-chan has that kind of effect with almost everybody.”

Aomine turns to the brunet, wondering what he’s been trying to say. One thing is sure though, Oikawa’s tone has already made him uncomfortable. On the other hand, Iwaizumi remains stoic and hasn’t said anything.

“But if you’re just here to fool around, spare my roommate and find somebody else. He deserves so much better,” Oikawa enunciates, letting his words sting where they have to.

Aomine swallows the bit of food before he opens his mouth to speak.

“What you’re all thinking about me… is wrong. I lied and I regretted it since. But I really like Kise right from the first time I saw him. That’s no lie.”

Then Aomine adds, “and by the way, I don’t want to sound rude but can I just finish this bagel outside while I look for your roommate?”

“But do you even know where he is right now?” Oikawa inquires.

“I think I do,” Aomine assures the brunet.

Oikawa drinks from his coffee mug, his eyes never leaving Aomine’s face. When he lays the mug back on the table in front of him, he gives Aomine a knowing smirk.

“Then what the hell are you still waiting for?” Oikawa urges him. “Go get your man!”

* * *

Love at first sight. Aomine didn’t believe it could happen to him. Maybe it was a little trick of destiny, maybe it’s just pure chance that he crosses paths with someone so captivating, that would make him forget himself and do some stupid things.

Just one chance. It’s all that he prays for. And he’ll be sure to make it right.

* * *

His gut feeling has been right all along, Aomine finds Kise on the spot where he first saw him, the street court where he and the blond first met. 

Aomine’s attention is riveted on Kise as he runs around like he owns the court, maneuvering the ball between his graceful hands, driving towards the basket in a flawless rhythm. The morning sun glints on his golden hair, as bright as the sun itself when he jumps. He raises both arms above his head, the ball braced in between his palms, his upper body leaning backwards. But instead of a fadeaway jumper, Kise whips his leg up, forcing his hips to vault backwards even further, his upper body almost parallel to the ground before he releases the ball to fly straight into the basket.

A formless shot. It leaves Aomine breathless, as he watches Kise mimic his own signature move.

Kise lands on the ground, his left heel breaking his fall before he completely stumbles backward. He turns his head to where Aomine is standing, golden eyes finally locking on orbs of ocean blue.

“Please don’t run away. Just hear me out this time,” Aomine pleads, taking cautious steps towards Kise.

Kise remains motionless and Aomine takes it as his cue to explain his side.

“I’m sorry, I lied to you. You didn’t deserve it.” Aomine begins. “But even if you don’t want to forgive me, I want you to know why I did it. I actually wanted to impress you back then. But it turned out, you’re the one who left an impression on me. While we were playing, I got very distracted by your presence.” Aomine swallows before continuing.

“And then you thought I was just some basketball newbie so I decided to simply go along with it. And you were so nice and helpful, too.”

Kise takes a sharp breath. “And you were stringing me along, is that it? You could’ve said something. We’ve been hanging around for weeks, we’re even talking everyday on the phone.”

“Yeah, I know. I was waiting for the right time. And I was going to tell you that day if Kuroko and Bakagami hadn’t shown up, I swear. I got carried away while we were playing and then we won and you were so happy and proud. At that time, I just didn’t have it in me to disappoint you.”

Aomine’s throat feels dry, his stomach housing a hundred fluttering butterflies. Yet he prevails under the weight of Kise’s probing stare.

“So here’s the truth." Aomine takes a deep breath before he utters, "I really like you a lot." 

Kise's eyes grow wider, his lips parting a little. Whether his reaction was due to surprise or disbelief, Aomine can't really tell. 

"You’re talented and witty and fun. Also, very attractive.” At the confession, Aomine feels his cheeks catch fire. He’s never said embarrassing stuff like these to any living soul before but his tongue is kinda having a life of its own right now.

“Oh my god, shut up.” Kise chides, rolling his eyes. “Don’t you think I hear that all the time?”

“Well, I also think about you a lot and want to spend more time with you."

Aomine knows he’s rambling but he cannot bring himself to stop.

“And I want to play basketball with you, and hold your hand and take you on dates. I want us to be friends and I want you to like me, too, so I don’t have to become someone you’ll just show off to your ex, parading around as your fake boyfriend--”

“Aominecchi, shut up--”

“Kise, please--”

With a scathing stare, Kise lunges at Aomine who braces himself for a possible blow on his face or something else that could be hurtful.

“Will you just shut up--” Kise commands him, fisting the collar of Aomine’s shirt-- “and kiss me already!” 

Aomine can’t remember if it was him or Kise who initiated the kiss. But there’s something endlessly pure and blissful when their lips collide.

It’s magic.

When they pull apart to catch their breaths, he looks at Kise and the distrust has gone away from his eyes, now replaced by something warm and affectionate. There’s this pinkish glow on his cheeks, too, and it makes Aomine’s heart squeeze so hard, his knees are going weak under him.

“Let’s start all over again, shall we?” Kise whispers, his fingertips tracing the lines of Aomine’s jaw. “No more lies.”

In response, he pulls Kise by the waist and they kiss again, and Aomine allows his lips to move in harmony with the blond’s, his tongue eager for more, Kise tasting like coffee and dreams coming true. 

* * *

_ A couple of months later… _

After winning an important match today, nothing can possibly bring Oikawa down. Outside the stadium complex, he meets Iwaizumi who rewards him with a long and hungry kiss.

“Congratulations,” Iwaizumi whispers lovingly into the shell of Oikawa’s ear. He misses playing volleyball with his boyfriend so much, Oikawa doesn’t think that he’ll ever move on from the fact that Iwaizumi had decided to pursue a different path, a dream that leaves volleyball behind entirely, once high school is over. But Hajime has his reasons and Oikawa will be there to support his best friend-turned-boyfriend one-hundred percent.

They celebrated Oikawa’s victory over a few bottles of beer, uni udon and yakitori. After a hearty meal, they stopped by a gesen, to spend their loose change over some arcade games and gacha machines.

Iwaizumi was only supposed to walk Oikawa home that night but the brunet, at the last minute, had decided to have a little fun so he refused to send his boyfriend back to his own apartment. 

So Oikawa unlocks the front door, pulls Iwaizumi inside, the pair of them tiptoeing across a dimly lit hallway to the receiving room. Oikawa then pushes Iwaizumi onto the couch and throws himself on top of his boyfriend, straddling his hips.

Oikawa wants this so much, he's been waiting all day to have Iwaizumi all to himself. He leaves a trail of butterfly kisses on the corners of Iwaizumi’s lips, down his jaw and onto his neck, his hands finding their way to unbutton Iwaizumi’s shirt.

He’s caught by surprise when Iwaizumi catches his wrists, suddenly hesitant. 

“Are you sure? What about your roommate?” Iwaizumi asks.

“No worries. Ki-chan’s got a photoshoot in the countryside. He’s not coming home until Sunday,” Oikawa explains, his fingers impatient to get Iwaizumi’s shirt off. He’s about to kiss his boyfriend again when they hear something else.

A moan.

Coming from the bathroom.

“Did you hear that?” a wide-eyed Oikawa asks his boyfriend. Iwaizumi nods wordlessly.

_ “Ahhh…” _

Oikawa recognizes Kise’s voice. _ The hell is Kise doing here? Didn’t he say he’s not coming home? Or was it for next week? _ Oikawa suddenly has a hard time recalling the exact conversation with his roommate.

They both hear another whimper. 

Oikawa straightens himself. _ Is Ki-chan actually jerking himself off in the bathroom? _

_ "Inside me... now... please…” _

Another moan escapes and then, _ “Ah, ah… you feel so good, Aominecchi…” _

Oikawa lets out a gasp, his blood pressure shooting to the roof. He can’t believe that these morons are fucking in his bathroom right now!

_ “Ao-mine...cchi… please... don’t stop…” _

Fuming, Oikawa climbs off the couch, ready to storm into the bathroom.

“That’s it, Iwa-chan! I’m going to skin them alive and feed their balls to the dogs!”

Before he moves further, though, Iwaizumi gets up, too, and grabs Oikawa’s shoulder to stop him.

“Tooru,”

“What?”

“It’s not worth it. Just spend the night at my place.”

“Ki-chan and I have an agreement that we’ll never bring our boyfriends to have sex in here,” Oikawa whines, his nostrils flaring.

“Is that so?” Iwaizumi asks with a mild chuckle. “But you’re willing to break off the agreement yourself, not long ago.”

“But still!”

“Let the kids have fun.” Iwaizumi starts fixing his shirt. “Make him pay some other time.”

“Damn right, Ki-chan will surely pay for this!” Oikawa says as another loud moan from Kise slips through the bathroom door.

_ Someday_, Oikawa vows. _ Someday, he will have his sweet revenge_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And it's done! Thank you to everyone who stayed for the ride! <3 Please let me know if you enjoyed. 
> 
> Ahh, it feels so good to actually finish a multi-chap story. I wrote chapter 1 two years ago and kinda lost the motivation for it in the middle because my ideas don't seem to work anymore. August last year when I posted chapter 1 and I thought about leaving it as it is until I got new inspiration this quarantine season. And now, it's finished! 
> 
> As for our dorks, Oikawa will be having his internship on the coming year so he'll be moving out of their apartment to live with his boyfriend Iwa-chan. Guess who'll take Oikawa's place? Yup, you guessed it right, it's best boy Aominecchi! Before Oikawa leaves, though, he gets his revenge on Kise by giving his own auditory show. They'll bicker about it the next morning and laugh about themselves.
> 
> Kagami and Kuroko are already dating in this verse. They run into AoKise making out in the basketball court one day. KagaKuro didn't know that AoKise got together eventually and were really surprised. Kise confirms that they were never unfriended. AoKise and KagaKuro are playing together more often since. As the intercollegiate prelims roll by, Aominecchi gets introduced to the other Miracles as well. Of course, they all become friends. Aominecchi finds Akashi and Midorima a bit eccentric, tho. But he loves competing with them. Momocchi comes home for a short vacay from England and she and Ki-chan got introduced as well. They hit it off quickly. Aominecchi would sometimes find them gossiping about him over Facetime.
> 
> Chapter title is from Public's _Put your hand in Mine_, the current OTP anthem for every fandom out there (I read that from one of the Youtube comments). So here's an AoKise for the song.
> 
> That's a wrap, fam! See you soon on another story or a chapter update (Where You Belong, ahhh. I'm not forgetting, it will be finished as well!). Thank you!!!

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for the cliffhanger but this will be finished soon! ^_^  
Thank you for reading! Kudos and comments are appreciated by my sad, needy heart.


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